Research in my lab broadly addresses the question: How do global changes, including atmospheric pollution and species invasions and extinctions, change the composition and function of ecological communities?

My interests in this question are broad, and my work ranges from transcontinental species invasions to interactions among microbes sharing a host.

My current work focuses on how environmental changes
(1) control grassland biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystem function and
(2) affect microbial communities within hosts and across landscapes, including
(3) disease transmission and risk.

I use ecological theory to guide my work, with the goal of developing a predictive understanding of these issues. Although my interests reach far beyond grasslands, much of my empirical work involves studying plants, insects, microbes, and disease in grasslands.